Captain Kangaroo

After watching Buffalo at the Rubber Bowl last season, I'm shocked they're playing decent. I would have never seen it coming.Zips off a bye week, and back in the MAC East hunt after the Miami loss to Temple...The Zips will beat Buffalo this week. Tight game...it always is up there...but the Zips rebound, and continue their undefeated record against the Bulls.

He's had 3 full seasons at Akron. Not 10. Odds are pretty high that two of his best seasons would be with Lee Owens-recruited players. You're only allowed to recruit 20-or-so kids in a class. Statistically, how could it be otherwise?Urban Meyer had his best/only two seasons with Blackney's recruits. Does that mean Blackney was great, or that Meyer got more out of the players than Blackney ever could?Make that statement after 5 or 6 seasons and it would have some merit. To make it after 3 is just silly.

You got me.

All that...and they beat us by 18 in football. Amazing.And we tied them in soccer.To be honest, I don't want to compete with "that." When I spoke to Dambrot at the golf outing, he was very proud of the fact that 11 of his 12 recruits at Akron thus far were getting their degrees.Contrast that with a sham student athlete like Greg Oden or Mike Conley who took a handful of cakewalk classes (History of Rock and Roll anyone?) one quarter to gain eligibility, then took the bare minimum in the 2nd quarter...which they subsequently dropped after the season's over...and went to the NBA. Now THAT'S college basketball in it's purest form. Go Zips!

I will add: If K.e.n.t. is dumb enough to give away their home field advantage and play us on a neutral field, I'm all for it.

The day the Zips took the K.e.n.t. game off campus and moved it to a neutral site would be the last day I own season tickets. Or any Zips football tickets. Why would you build a 55million dollar on-campus stadium, then move your premier rivalry game off campus?

Thanks for including that previous post. It is greatly appreciated...that's where I first leaned of the verbal. FYI - The info for my post was obtained from interviews with people who've seen him play, not from any web sites. If the ZipsNation hoops fans like that type of info, I will continue posting similar stories. It's fun.

The University of Akron basketball team recently received a verbal commitment for Serbian-born Nikola Cventinovic (Ven-TIN-o-vich). Nikola came to the United States 1 ½ years ago and is beginning his second year at Virginia Episcopal School in Lynchburg Virginia.While possessing a nice outside touch, the 6’ 7” 225lb forward isn’t your typical Euro player. His strength lies in his role as a banger. Projected to play power forward for the Zips beginning in the fall of 2008, he’s extremely intelligent and a vocal floor leader who excels on both the offensive and defensive side of the ball. And, he can throw down a mean dunk!A former soccer standout, Nikola already possesses some advanced footwork. Active, aggressive, frequently diving for loose balls…he’s certainly from a different mold than the Zips last Euro recruit, the immortal Klaus Zollner.How’d this youngster from the former Yugoslavia get to Akron? Was KD scouring the rugged Serpian terrain in search of the MAC's next Szczerbiak? Not quite.The Zips were apparently recruiting a teammate of Nikola’s. As occasionally happens, when you watch tapes of one player, a teammate unexpectedly catches your eye. While recruiting Virginia Episcopal’s Brian Irwin (sp?), it seemed the more tape and performances that were reviewed, the more Nikola stood out.Euro kids typically take a year or more to adjust to the more physical style of play we see “state-side.” Learning the American game as a Junior last year, he was still amongst his team’s leaders in most statistical categories. 12.5ppg, 6rpg and 2 steals/game. If you look as Virginia Episcopal’s roster, where most graduates earn college scholarships...many to major conferences, that’s pretty impressive. Nikola played his AAU ball for East Coast Scholar Athletes. Most of their games were in the south, hence he received heavy recruiting interest from such schools as Appalachian State, Davidson and Eastern Kentucky. And Vermont(?).Nikola dropped his soccer aspirations for his senior season and is solely focusing on basketball. Look for him to take his hoops game to another level this year...and then it's off to the JAR for the 2008 debut of "The Serbian Szczerbiak!"

The University of Akron basketball team recently received a verbal commitment for Serbian-born Nikola Cventinovic (Ven-TIN-o-vich). Nikola came to the United States 1 ½ years ago and is beginning his second year at Virginia Episcopal School in Lynchburg Virginia.While possessing a nice outside touch, the 6’ 7” 225lb forward isn’t your typical Euro player. His strength lies in his role as a banger. Projected to play power forward for the Zips beginning in the fall of 2008, he’s extremely intelligent and a vocal floor leader who excels on both the offensive and defensive side of the ball. And, he can throw down a mean dunk!A former soccer standout, Nikola already possesses some advanced footwork. Active, aggressive, frequently diving for loose balls…he’s certainly from a different mold than the Zips last Euro recruit, the immortal Klaus Zollner.How’d this youngster from the former Yugoslavia get to Akron? Was KD scouring the rugged Serpian terrain in search of the MAC's next Szczerbiak? Not quite.The Zips were apparently recruiting a teammate of Nikola’s. As occasionally happens, when you watch tapes of one player, a teammate unexpectedly catches your eye. While recruiting Virginia Episcopal’s Brian Irwin (sp?), it seemed the more tape and performances that were reviewed, the more Nikola stood out.Euro kids typically take a year or more to adjust to the more physical style of play we see “state-side.” Learning the American game as a Junior last year, he was still amongst his team’s leaders in most statistical categories. 12.5ppg, 6rpg and 2 steals/game. If you look as Virginia Episcopal’s roster, where most graduates earn college scholarships...many to major conferences, that’s pretty impressive. Nikola played his AAU ball for East Coast Scholar Athletes. Most of their games were in the south, hence he received heavy recruiting interest from such schools as Appalachian State, Davidson and Eastern Kentucky. And Vermont(?).Nikola dropped his soccer aspirations for his senior season and is solely focusing on basketball. Look for him to take his hoops game to another level this year...and then it's off to the JAR for the 2008 debut of "The Serbian Szczerbiak!"

I took my son to a corn maze in Penisula this past weekend. One of the women walking through it had a FTR hoodie on. Another guy had a "Roo A" hat on. I was in my Akron hoodie. You'd never have seen so much Zips gear out in the boonies 5 years ago.Waddell's efforts on the Marketing front made it cool to sport Zips gear. If we could ever consistently win, you'd see the stuff everywhere.

It isn't Zippy's fault. It is the Costume Coordinator!! Fire the Costume Coordinator!!! The previous Costume Coordinator was awesome. The old costume stitching was WAY better than the crap we've witnessed the past 3 years. The costume material thread count has decreased dramatically, and quite frankly I'm tired of it. I don't care if we need to eat the CC's contract...she's got to go.I have written Mack Roades daily regarding this topic, and I urge everyone at ZipsNation to do so as well!!

2001 - Urban Wins 16-112002 - Zips and BG Didn't Meet

You warm my heart!

Do you think I was born yesterday?? Come on! Sorry - Lee had 9 years. JD has has 3 1/2. Half of that game was played in the remnants of a hurricane. And Jason Taylor, a Faust recruit, almost single-handedly led the team to a win. Owens coaching played little part in that game. He was along for the ride. And, he lost. Owens' team played the Buckeyes well. But they were never in the game. Wells plunges in from the 1 at game's end and it is 35-14. JD was down 3-2 in the 3rd quarter. Place him against an overrated team like Marshall and he likely would. In only 3 1/2 years at the helm, it is pretty laughable to pit his record against top 25 opponents against someone who had nine years to do it...and did it once! What Bowl did they go to? None. Owens blew the game against Miami and watched the MAC Championship from his couch. JD beat Northern Illinois to go to the Motor City Bowl. Advantage JD. I LOVE the Owens fan who counts wins vs Hampton and Liberty with the same degree of difficulty as real Division 1 wins. Again - You can't be serious? Do you think the ZipsNation readers are that stupid? Why not put SE Missouri State and Grambling on the schedule and let Owens go 8-3? If you want me to post some of Owens' player retention rates, I will. His 2000 class is on GoZips.com...around 32% if I recall correctly? Compare JD's after 9 years and let's talk. And NYC slum is pretty laughable. While not what it is today, Owens campus was a hell of a lot nicer than when I enrolled in 1984. To evaluate JD in comparison to Owens after 3 1/2 years is a self-serving arguement. JD has had the practice facility for 3 years, and won't have a new stadium until 2009. Man...why the hell aren't we in a BCS bowl!!! FIRE HIM!!! NO PROGRESS!!! FIND ANOTHER URBAN MEYER!!! IT IS EASY!!! GOOD COACHES WIN BOWLS BY THEIR 3RD YEAR OR THEY SHOULD BE CANNED!!Gheeez....

A stat I heard this weekend was that 56% of the picks in the NFL draft's first two rounds this year were less than "3-stars" out of high school. Take it for what it's worth.

NC State is in the ACC. They drew 56,000 fan to the Akron game. 56,000!! We drew 7,000 butts-in-seats for Temple last week.OSU drew 105,000 for it's game against Akron. Their ticket prices average 20X what an Akron game ticket costs. Programs like NC State, and to a larger extent OSU, are dripping with money. Their stadium upgrades cost twice what our entire new stadium will cost! They don't recruit, they select.Akron beat NC State, who's grad assistants makes as much money as JD.Akron played OSU within 18 points. Ans the disparity between OSU's football resources and Akron's is similar to my salary vs. Bill Gates'.That's not impressive? That's a guy that should be fired? Gheeeez...Is JD perfect? No. Was the Temple collapse boardeline unforgivable? It was close. But if you ride JD for that loss, then where's the anger towards Dambrot for the Miami collapse? A 7-point lead with 2 minutes remaining? And we blow it? I guess JD just isn't that "loveable?"In the big picture, JD appears to have the program going in the right direction. To blow off his MAC championship as "luck" is ridiculous. To harp on his recruiting mistakes, while giving no credit to the quality players he's brought to Akron is self-serving. It is funny that, in mid season, all you heard from Indian's fans was grousing about Shapiro not picking up quality free agents..that Dolan wouldn't spend the money to be competitive...that Wedge was a boob. The Tribe is 1 game away from the World Series, and where are those guys now? They just sit and wait for the team to fail, so they can say "I TOLD YOU SO." Just like last week...the JD haters disappeared. Then the Zips lose, and the haters return. As predictable as an OSU fan's response to "O-H."All of you are welcome to post after the Buffalo game. But if we win, I can easily predict who will post, and who will disappear...until the next loss.

I'm dying of curiosity. You simply HAVE to tell me...what part of post #8 or post #10 in this thread is confusing?

That's extremely hilarious, even if it's in a sort of cryptic, off-beat way, Cap'n. Outstanding!! Thanks. Glad someone picked up on it!

I could go for a couple wins against Hampton, Liberty, Solon, Maple Heights or Vermillion about right now! Ummmmmmmmm

There's no alternative. It must be ready.

I don't see JD leaving. If he did, it would be for some assistant position at a BCS school, or to the NFL as some sort of assistant (he has a lot of NFL connections). But...I don't see him leaving. He's got a solid group of young players, and a new stadium within 2 years.If you look at things realistically, OVERALL, the team is probably performing as well as it can. We have limited offensive talent. I can't call this season a "rebuilding year" because we didn't win squat last season. But I can call this season a "building season." I predicted 8-4 worst case for this team a few months ago. Not because of we had a ton of talent, but because we were playing a pretty weak schedule. Knowing now what I didn't know then...I'd say 7-5 is to be expected from this team. Up until the 4th quarter of this week, you could make the argument that the Zips football program had progressed every week of the 2007 season. We were sloppy against Army, but beat them pretty soundly (forget the bad snap at game's end...we were in total control of the game for the most part)We played OSU (#1 team in the country) very tough. JD's ultra-conservative offensive approach combined with Stec's one-hit wonder career game kept us competitive for four quarters.We took a step forward at Indiana, putting up some points and moving the ball well. UConn wasn't a total debacle. The offense moved the ball a bit, and Bryan Williams began to emerge. Losing Mackey, UA's leading tackler, hurt. UConn is a very good football team, too.The conservative offense was just what the doctor ordered vs. K.e.n.t. too. K.e.n.t. will always beat themselves if you give them enough chances, and they did.We played a very aggressive offensive game vs. WMU. We pulled out a miracle in the end, but even if we had lost, as a Zips fan you could say we took a step forward.The Temple game...we regressed. CJ11 had a bad game. He defaulted to the run too soon. His passes were errant. The coaches felt we could run clock and hold on to the lead. Why the Zips staff would think this after seeing our defense peter-out in the second half of virtually every game to-date is puzzling. WMU thought the same thing the week prior, and they too got burnt. And - Temple has some skilled players. UA won't be their last win of 2007, trust me.The Zips offense lacks imagination, no doubt. But game breakers are developing. Al Owen is emerging. Bryan Williams is going to be great. Jabari was highly erratic last season. Now he's a stud. How did that happen? While JD obviously took too many chances on recruits long on talent and short on SAT's and discipline...which has cost us in the defensive depth chart...he's also brought in some great talent. And he's adjusted his recruiting strategy. He's jettisoned the malcontents. He's adapting and learning. People want to bury JD. To me, he's doing as well as anyone can ask. When you hire a 1st year head coach, he's going to make some mistakes. Organizationally. Recruiting-wise. On game day. That's just the way it is. If it were easy to hire an Urban Meyer, everyone would do it. If you went to the Miami Red Hawks message boards after their 42-0 shellacking @ Colorado, the fans wanted Montgomery canned. Now Miami is the MAC East favorite, and they've beaten Syracuse. Brion Stokes will be UA's all time leader in TFL's. Andre Jones is great. Getsy and Alleman would not have been here if it weren't for JD. Our new OL is playing very well, to the point where we can redshirt someone as talented as Paul Simkovich. Our cupboard is far from bare. But offensively it is young. And defensively it is thin.I look for us to get back on track after the bye week. Our defense needs the week off. Unfortunately, we can't claim any free agents. Our depth is what it is until 2008. Our offense is going to need to control the ball and score some points if we want to finish the season strong.I'm pulling for Coach Moorhead to turn things around. How we finish the 2007 season is predominately on his shoulders. Sideways passes and 2nd and 10 fullback draws won't cut it. 41 points will.Lunch break over.

You don't build a $55,000,000 football stadium if you are going 1-AA.

Are we talkin' basketball or volleyball here? If Karch has moved to Akron, you've got a scoop (not a scooter), Cap'em. My bad -- Coach Kraley!Kraley BioKarch Kiraly Bio

20-3 lead...in the 4th quarter...at home...against Big East reject Temple...and we lose. Wow....As many times as I've propped JD for his defense stepping up to win a game...and comparing it to what we'd seen for 9 years prior...this game gets dropped in the "Lee Owens" file. It was vintage Lee. It was Zips vs. Marshall circa 2000....it was Zips vs. UConn circa 2000 and 2003...it was an offense that couldn't get a key first down in perfect harmony with a defense that couldn't make a key stop.I don't think it was a "prevent defense" that burnt us as much as our lack of defensive depth and the offense's inability to so much as threaten to score for the latter 40% of the game. Someone in another thread likened the Zips second half offensive strategy to a "stall" in basketball. The Zips/Miami hoops game was in my mind last night. Up 7 points late in the game, we went conservative...and Miami stayed aggressive...and that's what gave them the chance at a victory at game's end.Twice we had 2nd-and-long, and twice we handed off to the fullback? That's terrible.3rd and short and we line up in the spread, with four wideouts and a single back? What happened to an "I" formation with two tight ends??!!After gradually progressing in 2007, the Zips took a step backwards last night. Their conservative offensive approach...which had served them well this season...finally bit them. Bryan Williams had a hell of a game. Ditto Reggie Corner. I thought Brion Stokes did a nice job too (or Brion "Strokes," if you were looking at the front cover of your game program).Stec struggled yet again. Often times his punts are so bad, they're effective. Maybe that's his strategy and I'm just not saavy enough to grasp it?Temple is a better team that I originally thought. Their quarterback is mobile, and throws a nice ball. The Temple wide receivers ran nice routes, and have good hands. Other than the stupid fake field goal, I thought they were coached well too. If they had a decent field goal kicker, we would certainly have lost by more than four. I give them credit for the win. There was nothing crazy...no fluke plays...they just wore us down, took away Jabari and beat us.Well...it is time to scrub the temporary tatoos off my son's face and move on with my Sunday. JD has two weeks off before the Zips travel to Buffalo. It will be interesting to see if he gives some consideration to a CJ7 + Bryan Williams backfield. I'm not off the CJ11 bandwagon yet, but even the biggest CJ11 supporter has to see our offense can use another playmaker. And having CJ7 on the sidelines the entire game seems to be a waste.